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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Can the capitalist society avoid it? News about this issue are far from encouraging. The project to be submitted for approval on December next year in Copenhagen, where the new Convention that will replace Kyoto’s will be discussed and approved, is being currently analyzed at Poznan.

The Commission in charge of the drafting of this project is presided over by Al Gore, ex presidential candidate of the United States, who was fraudulently defeated by Bush in the elections of 2001. Those who are drafting the project are pinning all their hopes on Barack Obama as if he could change the course of history.

An enlightening example comes from Canada.

An article published by BBC World entitled “Canada's Black Gold Oil Rush” points out that “the total area currently being mined is 420 Km2 , while the overall area that the Alberta government has leased to oil companies is 64 919 Km2. The area of exploitable reserves is 140 200 Km2 - about the size of Florida.

“From the air, the strip mines have transformed the forest into a moonscape of craters and lakes, with smoke stacks pumping out billowing clouds. All this in a remote part of northern Alberta.”

Further on, the article continues: “…There are three major players at the moment - Suncor, Syncrude and a consortium led by Shell - but more foreign investors and consortiums have piled in.

“…the lack of government action means not enough is being done about the cumulative effects on the environment.

“…an investigation by the Alberta Cancer Board is due to be published soon.

“Earlier this year, 500 ducks died after landing on a tailings pond run by Syncrude…A government investigation is ongoing. Whatever the results, it seems the pace of opposition to the oil sands is quickening.”

According to the Spanish daily “El País”, “… the estimates made by the dependent agency of the OECD (Organization for Economic and Cooperation and Development) are based on the predictions made by the IMF which point to a steady recovery of the global economy as from the second semester of the year 2009, when the world’s oil production will reach 86.3 million barrels per day.”

That same Spanish newspaper announces that “the director of the Department on Climate Change of China wants to state very clearly that Beijing would only limit its emissions in exchange for lots of investments and patents for clean technologies. His signature is indispensable so that all 187 countries gathered at the Polish city could move on to the adoption of a protocol that could replace that of 1997. Obama is causing a twenty years delay in the struggle against climate change.”

Another wire service from the agency NOTIMEX, dated on December 13, explains that “…the colossal fraud in Wall Street carried out by Bernard L. Madoff, ex chief of the firm Nasdaq, is causing losses in Spain amounting to millions”, according to an article published today by the newspaper “Expansión”, specialized in economic issues.

“…This Friday, one of the biggest scandals in Wall Street” –continues the wire service- “has been exposed after the ex chief of Nasdaq, Bernard L. Madoff, was arrested for having taken part in a fraud with an investment fund that could amount to 50 billion dollars.”

“…Madoff, ex founding president of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested on Thursday evening after his own son reported to the federal authorities that his father was part of what he called ‘a huge pyramidal fraud’.”

“…Based on this scheme, only the first investors would obtain dividends from their investments, leaving all of the rest with losses that, according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in New York, could amount to the aforementioned figure.”

Another news published by Reuters on the same date stated that: “…President-elect Barack Obama is considering a plan to boost the recession-hit US economy that could be far larger than previous estimates”, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

“…Obama aides, who were considering a half-trillion dollar package two weeks ago, now consider $600 billion –a year- over two years “a very low-end estimate,” the newspaper said,

“…The final size of the stimulus is expected to be $1 trillion over that period, given the deteriorating state of the US economy.

“…Officials with Obama’s camp have declined to comment on media reports about the size of the boost that the Democrat will launch once he takes office as President of the United States on January 20.”

The picture appears to be even gloomier after the news by several press agencies reporting all sorts of problems, ranging from the bankruptcy of the automotive industry as a result of the crisis, up to the natural disasters, including the increasing cost of foodstuffs, starvation, war, and many other facts.

The problem is that there is no more habitable space on our planet. The only one left was Australia, and the United Kingdom took hold of it on January 19, 1788. There’s been a long time since the environment is compromised.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Pen Meets PaperOpinion by Helge NomeStephen Harper's days as the Prime Minister of Canada and leader of his party are likely numbered. The “Economic Update” presented to Parliament recently was just the straw that broke the camel's back. The aggressive nature of the proposals put the old Reform Party's platform on center stage and galvanized the opposition parties into action after several years of bickering in Parliament. Harper thought he had the Liberals over a barrel with a discredited leader in the form of Stephan Dion and chose the path of the bully to gain added advantage. What he forgot was that when an animal is cornered, it is likely to bite, and it so happens that this animal has more muscle behind its teeth than Harper does. That was one big mistake. The next one came when Harper, now backed into his own corner, started sneering at Quebec, alienating that part of the country as indicated by Jean Charet's Liberals winning a majority in the recent provincial election there. Prior to that, Harper had alienated Atlantic Canada by being branded a “liar” by the conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Danny Williams. In fact, Harper has managed to get himself branded as”a man who can not be trusted” by people from all sides of the political spectrum. All of which proves that Stephen Harper is not up to the task of being the Prime Minister of Canada. No more so than Brian Mulroney and his “cash in brown paper bags” or Paul Martin and his “Canada Steamship Line” getting federal contracts and being registered in Liberia. The problem now is for the Central Canadian Money Establishment to find a credible leader for the Liberal Party of Canada and then throw its media weight in behind him. Is that man Michael Ignatieff? Time will tell.

Monday, December 1, 2008

CAROPENPen Meets PaperIn the midst of an all encompassing financial crisis, affecting all countries around the globe, our politicians in Ottawa are busy creating a constitutional crisis of their own. Instead of working together for the common good, they are now engaged in gamesmanship at our expense: Harper thought he had free reigns in continuing to bully the Liberals with Stephan Dion sulking in the background following his disastrous mistake of proposing a new tax regime prior to the last election. Harper decided to pull federal funding for the various political parties as a “cost saving” measure for the taxpayer, effectively handing political power over to the back room boys with money in their pockets from vested interest groups. Harper was summarily accused of not providing a stimulus package to the Canadian economy in the face of mounting evidence of a severe economic slowdown. So now our government and its opposition are locked in a battle for power fueled by several years of angry bickering in Parliament. The chickens are coming home to roost.I remember when Australian Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was dismissed by Governor General Sir John Kerr on November 11, 1975. It was a shocker and a lot of Australians lost faith in Democracy on that day. John Kerr ended up taking refuge in Britain following the event as it was felt that his life would be in danger in Australia. But only after installing a Liberal/Country Party coalition Government under the leadership on the Right Honorable Malcolm Fraser AC CH who, following his political demise in 1983 appeared in his underpants early in the morning at the registration desk of a Dallas Motel, as a hooker had evidently taken off with his pants (in lieu of payment?). After a reporter got hold of the story all of Australia literally shook with laughter over the man whose favorite quote was; “Life wasn't meant to be easy”. All except his wife, that is. And everybody knew he had to face the music when he got home. So, poor old Malcolm did not derive a lot of joy from his political coup d'etat. To top it up, he was alienated from his own party. Gough Whitlam on the other hand, at 91 years old, is to this day revered by the Australian Labor Movement. So the message to our representatives in Ottawa is: “Cool it you guys, remember who is paying your wages!”